When You Wish Upon a Star
by Kkqt7
Summary: Astrid Polaris' wish is granted to have a life changing adventure, unfortunately for it to come true, she must die and become the Spirit of the North Star and guide wishes to their fullest potential. When Pitch targets her, she must believe in herself and protect those who believe in her starlight. JackxOC my first fanfic, sorry if it's horrible. Rated for language and innuendos.
1. Last Wish

**Author's note: Hi, this is my first fanfic, I really hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my OC Astrid Polaris and the plot!**

_Today is going to be a great day, I just know it!_ This was the first thought that Astrid Polaris had when she woke up Saturday morning, refreshed from a restful night in preparation for future plans. Usually considered a creature of the night, the unusual cheeriness in her attitude was caused by the fact that her father, an astronomer working for NASA, got permission to let her see the telescope at the observatory outside of the city. Throwing the covers off of her, she stretches on her way to the bathroom. After taking care of the need to pee and then splashing her face with cold water, she rushes downstairs to grab some breakfast.

"Hi mom!" she says as she pulls her dark brown hair into a messy bun, a few curls sneaking out.

"Mornin'! Though I'd have to say it's a little late for morning... Aren't you cold in those shorts?" Maria Polaris arches an eyebrow at what her daughter's pajamas consist of: a baggy T-shirt with a graphic of Einstein smoking a pipe with nebula smoke and a pair of pink polka-dotted shorts.

The 17 year old shrugs at her mother's inquiry, "Meh, not that cold right now." she looks at the clock on the microwave and notices the time, 11:42. "Woah, thought I actually woke up early on my own for once..." her mother just hums in confirmation, her tone full of 'told you so.' "So what's for breakfast?" Astrid says as she hops onto a stool at the island in their kitchen.

"Go make something, I'm not your personal chef" her mother says as she gives her a look, "now hurry up so you can get ready to meet your father later, unless of course you don't want to go anymore," she says with a smirk, her aged eyes sparkling with humor.

Astrid's dark chocolate eyes widen and she jumps right out of her seat, " You wouldn't!" she exclaims as she makes her way to the fridge. She pulls out two eggs and a pack of bacon. Her mother chuckles as she swears she's never seen her youngest daughter move so fast. "That's not funny, mom!"

"Oh but it is from here," she replies, looking bemusedly at the teenager try to balance all the food in her arms. "Your brother and sister already left an hour ago, so how do you plan on getting to the bus stop?"

"I'll just walk," she says, as she looks over her shoulder. She cooks the eggs and bacon, smiling wide when she smells the familiar scent of delicious comfort food.

"You know I don't like it when you're by yourself," Maria says as she crosses her arms. Astrid's parents tended to be...helicopter parents. They are very protective of her, she knows they do it because they love her but she can't help but feel suffocated. She needs some freedom, "Mom, I'm 17, and I didn't take self-defense classes for no reason. Besides if anyone suspicious comes near me, I'll just act psycho and possessed, then they'll just run away in fear" she says with a cheeky grin.

Maria sighs, unsaid words hidden in that breath, "I know...I just want you to be safe."

*:.｡. .｡.:*

Astrid steps out of the bathroom in a towel, feeling refreshed and squeaky clean. She walks to her closet and takes out her favorite big, blue knit sweater, the design on it a star made out of bones, and her burgundy ombré skinny jeans. After putting on her pink panties with cream lace ruffles on and matching bra, she gets dressed, and rushes back into the bathroom. After combing her thick, layered hair, she puts it in a purposefully messy bun on the top and pulled it tight to make sure it won't fall out.

She applies a some mascara and chapstick, knowing its just a hangout with her dad but feeling that this was a special occasion, she felt like dressing up a little. _It's NASA and the Hubble telescope! Like hell, I won't dress up for this. Never know when you'll see some cute scientists or maybe meet some aliens!_ She smiles, her eyes twinkling with childish glee. Of course it sounds ridiculous, but she believes whole-heartedly that aliens exist, that among other things. She knows it may sound stupid but she believes in magic, the supernatural, and the incredible. A part of her nags her for believing in urban legends and myths, part of it's why she's so paranoid. But another part of her can't help it, she feels, no, knows there's a whole other world, or worlds, out there.

After she shakes herself out of daydreaming, she grabs her gold star chain ear cuff and crescent moon earring, tugs on her black, motorcycle boots, and heads out her room with her jean backpack. She skips down the stairs, humming Dream a Little Dream of Me by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. After kissing her mom goodbye, she grabs her keys and her phone and heads out the front door.

*:.｡. .｡.:*

_Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God! I can't believe this is actually happening! I am going to see the Milky Way with a big, beautiful telescope!_ Half skipping, half dancing, Astrid moves along to the beat of her music. IAMX's The Unified Field keeping her peppy mood up.

Too much in her own little world, she ignores the looks given by strangers. Usually a timid, and quiet girl in public, she lets out extra energy during the walk to the bus stop. Once there, she plops down onto the bench, waiting patiently for the bus to arrive.

Checking her phone for the time, she realizes its 4:30. Since its almost winter, it's been getting darker earlier, and she hopes she can make it on time without wandering in the night. Just as she felt butterflies in her stomach from anticipation, the bus arrives and she all but runs onto the bus. Once she sits down in a spot in the back, she daydreams of all the possible scenarios that could happen: discovering a new star, finding another galaxy, finding a UFO! To her, the possibilities are endless!

*:.｡. .｡.:*

As she steps off the bus, she can't help but notice how awfully dark it is. The observatory is about 10 minutes down the road if one walked, but to Astrid, that seemed like an eternity in this surrounding darkness. Sure people lived out here too but it's not the same as it is in the city...

_I swear to God, if some crazy person or a zombie comes out from anywhere, I'm stabbing them regardless of their living state._ She thinks to herself as she wraps her arms around herself. The night is chillier than she thought it would be but she figured she could tough it out.

A snap sounds off in the woods, and she hears laughter. The childish giggle seemed to echo throughout the shadowy forest, taunting her. "H...hello? A-anyone there? Show yourself or I'll skin you alive and pour salt on your wounds!" her fear taking over her, she tries to put up a bravado.

A red ball comes bouncing out of the bushes, scaring her half to death. She squeaked and did a little hop to move away, only to realize how harmless the projectile was. Following the ball, two little kids come running out. A boy and a girl, both looking to be about 5-6 and identical twins. Their auburn curls bouncing as they moved, and freckles sprinkled across their little button noses.

They both looked at her, smiled and giggled and went on their way, chasing after their toy.

Feeling ridiculous for being so scared, she walks over to them. "Hi, what are you two doing out so late?"

The little boy looks up at her, "Our ball ran away so we went to get it. Mommy said we have to hurry though." He then turns his head to see his sister picking up the ball, which was in the middle of the street. He runs over to her shouting, "Hey! Mommy said we can't go on the road!"

"But my ball!" she said with a little pout. She clung the ball to herself, huffing in annoyance. Her twin runs up to her, tugging on her arm.

Astrid jogs over to them, "Hey guys, why don't we go back on the sidewalk, ok?"

They nod and start to walk back, but once they did, they spot a car coming down the road. She urges them to go faster and when they get back, the car slows down.

The car pulls over to their side of the road and a man gets out and eyes them. Feeling uncomfortable, she ushers the children to walk faster. The man, who looked to be in his late 20s, started walking towards them. Astrid tenses up, preparing for the worst.

The man looked sleazy and up to no good. He speeds up and calls out to them, "Hey, you there, you guys want some ice cream?" The children look back but Astrid urges them to keep moving forward. "Hey, I'm talking to you! Don't you know to listen to adults?" he yelled at them.

"Please leave us alone, sir." Astrid replies as she keeps walking forward, quickening her and the children's pace.

"Come over here and say that to my face, bitch!" he shouts at her, "don't you want some of this masterpiece?" he gestures to himself with a lewd look on his face.

"Ugh, leave us alone, or I will call the police on your ugly ass!" she shouts back, pissed off and a little scared. Her anger takes over but breaks once she hears a click. She freezes, and looks over her shoulder. She sees that he has a gun, the click was the sound of the safety being pulled. She looks down at the twins and tells them that when she counts to 3, they need to run as fast as they can back home.

She turns around slowly with her arms raised up in defense. He waves the gun at her, motioning for her to move toward him. She walks slowly, until she is about 3 feet away from him, the gun almost in her face. She can tell he is drunk, taking in his sluggish form and swaying body. "1...2...3!" she shouts as she swings both arms towards the gun and knocks it out of his hand.

She hears the children run away, and makes a dive for the weapon. Unfortunately, so does he. They struggle over it, him pushing her, her clawing him. She kicked the gun into the bushes, away from his reach. Angered, he gets up and pulls her by the collar with him. Swinging her left arm over his hands to hold him, she punches him with her right in the ear and swings again with her elbow. He headbutts her, stunning her, but she quickly recovers when she hears a yelp.

Astrid looks to see that the little girl tripped and drew his attention. Muttering "little brats" under his breath, he starts to make his way over to them. Astrid gets up and roundhouse kicks his back, sending him sprawling. With their given time, the twins make a run for it into the woods. Sighing in relief, she tries to make her get away as well. She is stopped when the man grabs her ankle.

Struggling to kick him off, she grabs a branch off the ground, and swings it. She hit his arm but he grabbed it with his other hand. While she tries to get up, she doesn't notice him swinging the branch. He hits her upside the head.

Stunned, the turns on her back. A huge mistake she made on her part. The man had easy access to her vulnerable neck. He stood over her and he started to strangle her. She tried her best to release his hold, but he exceeds her in strength. The most the could do while gasping for air was grip his hands and look at the full moon and then to the North Star as best as she could through tear filled eyes. As her vision fades in and out, she thinks one last thought with her dying breath.

_I wish...I wish I could've done more._


	2. Wish Granted

**Author's note: wow! I didn't expect people to like it. I seriously love you guys, this makes me beyond happy! I wanted to thank Ground-Cinnamon, CrazyZebra, Ever, the guest, and CateCruz! You guys are awesome, thank you so much for the reviews! Also, Happy Apocalypse day and Happy Winter Solstice! **

**Disclaimer: I only own my OC and the plot**

_Numbness. Silence. Darkness._ That's all she can register through her foggy mind. The fear of the unknown makes her shiver, she hears a dark chuckle from behind her. She tries to turn but her body is paralyzed. Panic settles in but before it can make itself at home within her, she feels warmth. Off in the distance, an almost muffled voice calls out to her, a strong, steady baritone.

_"Calm down, everything will be alright, young one."_

Astrid furrows her eyebrows, confusion and worry flash upon her face. She doesn't know who this voice belongs to, but she feels like she can trust him. She relaxes, and as soon as she does, her body can move again. She see a dim, silvery light a few feet away from her. Believing that this is the famous "light at the end of the tunnel" she walks towards it. As she gets closer, the light unsurprisingly gets brighter and brighter, until a blinding light forces her to close her eyes.

*:.｡. .｡.:*

A loud gasp of air breaks the silence in the woods, allowing for an intake of fresh air to enter Astrid's lungs. She's gasping, trying to make sense of what's going on. She looks at her surroundings, a forest_...What...what happened? Why am I here?_ She thinks to herself, trying to recall how she got in this situation. She calls out to the trees, hoping someone would hear, "Hello...?" her voice is raspy, as if she hasn't had water or slept for a day.

Trying to listen for an answer, she tries to stay still as much as she can while sitting on a pile of dead leaves. After three minutes, she gets up, her body feeling a little tingly. She shakes off the pins and needles feeling, and makes her way up the hill, slipping and tripping a little. Finally, she makes it to the top, pushing stray locks of hair out of her face she realizes that she still does not know where she is. _Well great, you're lost. Way to go, genius. How in the hell did you even get here...?_

Spotting a clearing in the woods, she strides on over. Once she got to her current destination, she sees a small pool of water, reflecting the stars and the moon. Figuring to check and see what in the world she looks like right now, she peeks over the edge. Her eyes widen and she jumps back. _What— how in— I don't— WHAT?! _

She shakes her head, telling herself that she's dreaming, _I must be, I always have crazy elaborate dreams anyways...this...this can't be real..._ She scoots back over to the water's edge, looks over, and stares at the stranger who is her, but not.

She takes it all in, seeing such drastic changes to her appearance: her hair, no longer the dark cocoa brown it used to be, the mass of wavy hair now burgundy and magenta and purple and blue and teal! The dark curls she's had since she was a baby, replaced by a rainbow of an ombré! The next body part she notices are her freckles, before just a sprinkle of tan dots across her high cheekbones and the bridge of her nose, now a sprinkle of shining, glittering, flecks of gold! Her eyes are the last she notices, once the same color as her hair, she bends down to get a closer look. She sees cerulean blue surrounding gold, almost swirling together. Upon closer inspection, she sees flecks of red around the edges. Awe is written all over her face. She is so amazed and astonished, only three words make it out of her mouth "Holy shit nuggets..."

She hears a small chuckle and tenses up. She whips around, trying to find the source of the sound. When she finds none, she notices a glare out of her peripheral vision. She turns her head and sees a gold sword. Walking over to it warily, she notices the detailing: it appeared to actually be two smaller swords, coming together to made the one, a six-pointed star separates the blade and the hilt, at the center of the star, a white crystal. She inches towards it, reaches forward, and just taps it with her finger.

A flash of light momentarily blinds her and she flinches back. She feels weight on her wrists that wasn't there before and pulls up her sweater's sleeves to reveal gold arm cuffs with the same star detailing.

_"Consider it a gift from me, young one."_

Astrid's ears prick up at the voice, she turns to face the direction it came, only, the direction was up. "Hello? Who's there?" She tries to look around to find anything to make some sense.

_"It is I who spoke,"_ following the sound of the voice, the rainbow-ette looks towards the full moon. _"Do not be afraid, you are safe here. I heard your pleas and I granted your wish."_

"Wish? What wish?"

_"The previous night, you wished you could do more, you wished with all your heart and soul to help others. You gave your life, so others could have one." _

Astrid freezes, the memories of the last night hitting her like a ton of bricks. They rush through her mind so fast, she backs up in a poor attempt of getting away, only to trip over a root that stuck out of the ground. Her eyes widen, her breathing is rapid and unsteady, her mind seems to be going into shock.

_"Do not be alarmed, take slow, deep breaths."_ says the mystery voice, soothing her to an almost normal state of mind. Almost.

"What do you mean 'don't be alarmed'?! What the fuck even happened?! How did I even get in this damn forest?! Am I...am I dead?" She shouts at the full moon, glaring at it then feeling realization settle in, she whispers the concluding sentence, her voice so full of emotion.

She waits for his reply, staring at the source of light with eyes wide with fear. Finally he answers her, _"Yes, I am sorry that you have died but you did for a reason. I am the Man in the Moon. Your name is Astrid Polaris, you are now the North Star. You are a spirit whose duty is to protect wishes of the those in need and to guide the spirits of the stars. Those bracelets are your weapon against those who threaten you. You use your judgement, you think with a clear and good mind, you are there for those who need are others like you, they can help you. This is all I can tell you for now, young one." The_ voice seems to drift away, the light from the moon dimming slightly.

Astrid stares up at the moon realizing one thing. "Wait, how the fuck do I even get out of here."

*:.｡. .｡.:*

"Stupid moon thing not telling me what to do now, stupid forest looking all creepy and shit, stupid mosquitoes trying to bite me, stupid stupid stupid stupid..."

Astrid is muttering to herself, like any other sane person she claims, about her predicament while she walks in a direction she randomly picked. Not the brightest idea but she figured it was better than nothing. While she continues to blindly find her way through the night cursing her current situation, she doesn't notice exactly where she's going.

Over the cliff she falls.

All she can register to do is scream and flail her arms in a poor attempt at trying to stop her downward descent. The wind rushing past her ears and messing up her hair even more is the first thing she notices. Then she notices the ground growing ever more closer to her face, she throws up her arms in front and squeezes her eyes shut to try to prevent as much pain as possible. _Shitshitshitshit STOP!_

Jerking to a sudden stop, she hangs in mid air, only a few feet above the ground. Peeking one eye open, she checks to see if she died again, then opens them in disbelief. Amazed, she stares in astonishment, still upside down but floating! "Woah..."

At that, she suddenly drops down, landing on her side and rolling to try to take most of the impact. "Ow, motherfucker...wait, what was that! Was I floating?! Holy shit can I fly?!" She looks up at the moon in expectation of a reply. Remembering that he left her to her own devices, she sends the orbital an icy glare. "Fine then, two can play this silent treatment game." She huffs to herself and picks herself up, picking out some leaves that decided to make her long, multicolored hair their home and dusts off some debris off her burgundy ombré pants.

"Hmmm...'" She starts musing to herself, wondering if she needs to jump start to fly or to simply just do it. "Maybe it's like Peter Pan and Tink...well it's better than nothing. Faith, trust, and pixie dust. Faith, trust, and pixie dust. Faith, trust, an—wait, where the fuck do I get pixie dust?"

The colorful teenager tries to walk around, hoping that she can find some fairies in the forest. _Hell, if the moon can talk and I can fly, fairies are probably real too..._ She moves leaves and picks through bushes, softly calling out "Here fairies, fairies, fairies."

Feeling ridiculous, she turns around, only to see a small, brown ball of fur. This small brown ball of fur gives out a little, raspy cry. Her heart just melts at the sight and she inches closer. Seeing the baby bear all alone makes her want to cradle it, then she remembers something from those documentaries she used to watch: when baby bears are near, mama bears are close, and when a mama bear is close, you run.

Hearing a deep growl come from behind her, she tenses up. She slowly cranes her neck to look over her shoulder, she sees the big, mama bear, about 10 feet away from her. She tries to make a slow retreat away from her baby but she growls even louder when she moves. Panic settles in again and with panic, so does a little stupidity.

Taking off at a run, and tries to go as fast as she can. Trying to remember all those survival tips from the Discovery Channel, they all mishmash in her mind. The one thing she remembers most about those stories is that most of them ended up with the person being mauled and clawed, if they're lucky.

Hearing a roar from behind her, she dares to look back only to regret it. She sees the mama bear practically rampaging towards her. Motivated to run faster, she lets out a strangled yell and pumps her arms and legs like never before. Her face is scrunched up and she is feeling suffocated from her sweater but she is way too focused on running from a over protective mother.

She sees a break in the trees and kicks it in high gear only to try to stop as fast as she can before she falls off another cliff. Teeter-tottering on the edge, she hears the bear get close, and with it, her impending doom.

Remembering she can fly, she tries to take off. "Come on, come on, come on, come on. Fly already! Dammit!" She tries small hops, which become more frantic as the bear gets closer. Finally coming to a decision that death by falling would be less painful than mauling, she leaps over the edge.

And looks at the bear growling at her from the lip of the cliff.

She looks down and sees that she floating in air! "I can fly! Woo hoo! And I'm aliiiive!" Whooping some more while the mama bear glares at her, she salutes a goodbye to the large mammal before taking off higher into the night sky.

Giggling like a child, she tries to control her direction. She makes jerky and swirling movements as she figures out how to maneuver herself. After a while she feels like she's got the hang of it.

Feeling free and giddy, she smiles and closes her eyes. Inhaling a deep breath of the fresh, night air. She allows herself a moment of peace, one that seemed overdue, especially considering earlier's events.

Opening her eyes, she feels a slight nausea and invertigo as she looks down, her tummy doing flip flops. _Oh fudge me over with sprinkles...okay, okay. Breathe, breathe, inhale, exhale. Suck it up, tough it out, and hold down your lunch!_

Opening her eyes slowing, she takes in the view in front of her. At a loss of words, she stares in awe at the beautiful night sky. She spins slowly, trying to see as much as she can, all the constellations, the planets, the Milky Way. They're all so pronounced since there are no lights to hide their beauty.

She then looks back to the earth trying to find a familiar site. A small smile graces her face, her eyes alighting in excitement. "The road!" She flies over, albeit she dips and wobbles a bit, to the strip of concrete that separates the green, woody sea. She looks ahead and spies a source of bright light. "Seattle! Home, sweet home, here I come!" she takes off, going as fast as she can, aiming for the city in her sights.


	3. I'm here

_**Author's note: hi guys! So I was so motivated by your reviews that I got started on the next chapter as soon as possible! I want to thank you all so very very much! I hope you'll like this chapter as well!**_

_**Disclaimer: if I owned Rise of the Guardians, it wouldn't be the magnificent work it is today, all I own is my OC and the plot!**_

_How the hell do you steer? I cannot control this for the life of me! _

As Astrid soars through the night, her petite form dipping and tilting to the left or right, her eyebrows are furrowed in frustration. A giggle escapes her every now and then. She can hardly container excitement.

Upon seeing that she is just outside the city, she flies between skyscrapers. _This is a dream come true! I've always wanted to fly through the city! I feel like a super hero!_ Astrid bobs and weaves her way to the other side of they concrete urban jungle, making her way past downtown, past Pike Place Market, and the Space Needle.

She comes to a sudden stop, her eyes sparkling with a desire she's had since she was a child. I'm going to fly to the top of the Needle! Taking off again, she heads towards the famous building, following the form of the structure up it's length. Reaching the top, she finds a place to sit for a few minutes.

Panting from her little adventure, she suddenly feels the cold, wrapping her arms around herself to lessen the shivers and takes in the horizon. She figures she can wait a while to see the sunrise but then something catches her attention out of the side of her eye. Glancing over, she sees rivers of gold floating through the sky.

_Wow...what is that?_ She notices that the golden rivers are floating out of the buildings nearby. Wanting to get a closer look at the sight, curiosity convinces her to fly over. Hovering next to a stream of gold, she stares in awe. She tentatively reaches a small hand out, gliding her hand through.

"Pixie dust...?" Of course that's all her mind could really think of at the moment, but then she pinches her pointer finger and her thumb together, felling the mysterious substance. The grainy feel of it is soft yet strong. The teenager then notices something moving, the gold stuff is now moving, taking the shape of a minuscule lion. She smiles as the little gold lion prances around her, almost seeming like he wants to play, but once he got near the gold stream, he was taken back.

Giggling a little to herself as a small smile graces her face, she remembers her reason for coming here: home. She takes off again, the sunrise helping her find her home. Heading towards the houses just on the edge of the city, snuggled cozily in the mountain side surrounded by trees, she spots a familiar brick and wooden house. She flies lower so she can get a better look, the golden sun tinting the sky an array of reds, pinks, oranges, and yellows. The sun glints off the front window of her house, glaring the bright light into Astrid's eyes, hiding the inhabitants inside.

She lands and walks over to the window to peek in. Her mother and father are awake, usually sleeping in and watching tv. She sees their distressed faces and gets worried. She walks around to the back, opens the back door and enters the warm abode. The first thing she hears is her mother crying.

*:.｡. .｡.:*

"Why?! Why did this happen?! If only she stayed home or if I could have taken her!" Maria has her hands fisted in her hair, her face full of guilt and grief. "Frank, she was so young! And so full of life, why did this happen?!"

Her husband walks over to her and hugs his wife. Astrid's father, usually a strong and cheerful man, now shaking and giving off waves of sadness."Honey, it's not your fault. I know it hurts, our little baby is...g-gone." His voice chokes out the last word and tears fall out of his eyes.

Astrid's heart wrenches at the sight of her parents beaten so low and hard. She walks over to her mother's side and bends down, "Mama, it's ok, I'm still here. I'm not gone." She moves to hug her depressed mom, only to pass right through her.

Astrid blinks in confusion and moves to hug her again. She falls right through her. "Mama? Daddy?" A slight panic shows in her voice, "I-I'm alive! I'm right here! Look at me, I'm okay!" she shrieks as she grips the front of her sweater.  
She makes a grab for her dad's arm but she passes through him too. "...no...no no NONONONO! Please! Look at me!" she grips her own hair in frustration and pulls hard in an attempt to "wake her up."

"This can't be happening..." she whispers to herself as she hears them talk.

"Frank, they didn't even find her body. We can't...we can't even bury her properly." Maria covers her eyes with her shaking hands. Tears freely roll down her face as she cries out.

"Don't say that. It's just the first day, she's p-probably on her way home. I-if she was t-taken, she knows to fight back and find her way home. Our little girl is smart." He squeezes his hands to reassure and comfort his grieving wife even though he too is unsure about his youngest daughter's state.

"Dammit! Why my baby?! Why us?! What did we do wrong?!" Maria screams to the ceiling.

"Honey, you're gonna scare the others. E-everything will be ok. She'll come home. The police are doing all they can, they'll find her."

Astrid stares in disbelief and shock, "But I am home..." She whispers, desperation rings clear in her voice. Her voice is shaky, as are her hands as she looks at them through tear filled eyes. "Mama, Daddy, I am home, I'm here...please..." her pleas go unanswered as her voice shrivels to a whimper. She grabs onto her arms tightly, forcing her nails into the fabric and her skin, trying to feel "alive".

The spirit falls on her knees in defeat, her colorful hair is used as a curtain to hide from this cruel reality. She sobs and cries, her body shaking. The bright and beautiful morning mocking all of them with its cheeriness.

*:.｡. .｡.:*

Astrid flies solemnly to the top of the Space Needle, her whole essence giving off negative vibes. After she finished crying, she went up into her room to try to change her clothes and clean up a little. Surprisingly she could touch material objects, which frustrated her even more. She washed off a few stains, brushed her hair up into a bun, and layered clothes on underneath her sweater and pants. Her purse had her phone and her wallet but the man who murdered her took it. She figures she probably doesn't need it anyways.

As she perches herself on the top, she contemplates her situation._The moon said to protect, well how am I supposed to protect anyone when I can't touch them?! Maybe I should try to find those people he mentioned...he didn't give me any names, great._ Something silver catches her eye and distracts her from her musings.

"Snow..." she stretches out one hand to catch some snowflakes in her palm, a small smile breaking her dim demeanor. She looks up, letting the cold touch her face, relaxing into it. Letting out a heavy sigh, she lays back.

She hears a male's laugh off in the distance, curious, she peeks over the edge. She sees a person flying through the air. "Oh my God!"

The person is soaring over the city, the snow seeming to follow him. _Wait what, no, is...is he MAKING snow?!_ She jumps off the Space Needle and flies towards him. She hides behind some buildings, not wanting to be seen. She observes the male from below on the ground, admiring the snow that he created. "Wow!" she whispers to herself.

Amazed, she gets distracted by the snow. She closes her eyes to enjoy the refreshing cold and hums in bliss. When she opens her eyes, she notices that the boy was gone. Peeking around the corner, she tries to spot him.

_SMACK_

Astrid yelps as she is surprised by the a snowball to the back of the head. She spins around and backs up as the boy from earlier gets in her personal space. Eyes wide, she gets a good look at him: tall and lean with subtle muscle definition, with a skin tone as pale as snow. He has silvery-white hair, salt and pepper eyebrows, and the bluest eyes she has ever seen. He has frost covering the top and the ends of a blue sweatshirt and he is wearing brown pants that cut off at the end of his calves, leading to his bare feet. _He's so handsome..._

"If you're done ogling me, how about you tell me who you are, rainbow head?" the boy asks. "Though I know you can't help it, I'm irresistible." he says, flashing a devilish smirk at Astrid.

Astrid frowns, her facial expression miffed yet unamused. _And now the possible attraction just died._ Sighing, she replies, "I wasn't ogling you, so don't flatter yourself."

"Oh I beg to differ, and you were also stalking me. Will I be forced to get a restraining order?"

"I wasn't stalking you! I was just curious. How do you do that?"

"Do what? Make snow? Why I'm Jack Frost!" He mock-bows to her then waves a staff that's hooked on the end around, snow falling from from each wave.

Astrid raises an eyebrow at his proclamation, "Oh really? The fancy tricks are cool, excuse the pun, but who are you really?"

"What—? But you—you can see me! So you must know who I am. You _saw_ me making it _snow_!" Jack waves his arms in exasperation.

"Hey, back it up dude, isn't Jack Frost supposed to be...you know, old?"

"Well technically I am old, about 300 years give or take, but I'm like fine wine." He winks at Astrid.

"Aaaaand now I'm creeped out. Um, bye." She starts to scoot away and turns to walk the other way. She runs face first into something hard and cold and falls back on her bottom from the force. "Ow, fuck..." She rubs her injured head and looks up to see what got in her way. Her eyes get bigger as she spies none other than the snow white boy blocking her path.

He has the nerve to tsk at her, "Naughty words will get you on the naughty list, believe me, I know North." He looks down at her with a smirk, "Told you, I'm Jack Frost. Want me to nip at your nose?"


	4. A Little Bit of Fun

**Author's note: Hey guys! I love you all so much! Like wow, I'm just so freakin happy you like it! Also, quick question, should I change the rating to M because of the cussing and innuendos?**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Guardians, I only own my OC and the plot**

_Ugh, what the hell is this guy's deal?!_

Blue eyes mixed with warm tones glare at icy light blue counterparts. Jack Frost reaches a helping hand out to the fallen teen, a playful smile donning his pale face. Astrid huffs and moves his hand away. She stands up and brushes off the back of her pants. While she does this, the winter spirit continues to look on in amusement, the smile turning into a smirk. She takes notice of this and she clenches her fists, her eyebrows make a V, and her face heats up from anger.

"Hey, chill out will ya?"

"Real punny, Frosty, "she says with a wry smile, "but I'm not really in the mood for stranger danger fun." She walks away, intending that to be her dismissal, unfortunately for her, the icy teen floats after her. "Leave me alone, stalker."

Feigning offense, Jack throws his hand to his chest, gasping and exaggerating his facial expression. "Stalker?! I call hypocrisy on you! You stalked me first." He flies to sit on a phone booth.

Her nose starts to twitch a little and she let's out an aggravated growl, trying to avoid the snow spirit, to no avail.

"Soooo, does my stalker have a name?"

Sighing, she turns towards him, "If I tell you my name, will you leave me alone?"

"It's a possibility." He says with a shrug.

Hesitant at first, she finally gives in. "Hi, I'm Astrid. Okay, buh-bye." And with that she takes her leave again.

Jack follows her and fully takes in her appearance, "I'm curious, what's with the getup? I mean I know everyone is unique and all but isn't the glitter a bit much? Did you just come from a party or something, cause you seem a little young to be staying out late, or in this case, early."

Astrid gives him a look up and down, "Well you're not exactly traditional yourself. Starting a new trend?" She motions to his bare feet.

Giving a one-sided shrug, he nonchalantly replies, "Oh don't you know? It's the latest in Paris."

"Oh har har."

The city is starting to wake up, people emerging from apartments, hailing taxis or heading to the nearest coffee shop. Slowly, the streets get busier. Astrid tries her best to not get caught up in the crowd, avoiding others shoulders at every chance she got. Jack took notice of this, _is she a germaphobe or something...?_

Astrid spots a big crowd approaching, heading for the Amtrak. She braces herself for the oncoming stampede. She gasps as the first person goes through her, remembering her ghostly state. She holds her breath as everyone passes through her, a familiar empty sensation with each person. Feeling alone once again, she ducks her head down to hide her face from Jack.

Jack stares in shock at the girl, _she's...she's a spirit!_ He sees her flinching a little and then curling in on herself. He is still in shock, not thinking to help her move until after the crowd moves on. He touches her shoulder, she jumps as if she was electrified. She looks up at him and he notices her eyes are glassy from unshed tears. She looks away and wipes her eyes with the edge of her sleeve.

"I'm sorry, it's uh, it's still new to me...I shouldn't be...i-it's stupid." She chokes out as many words as she could at the moment.

Knowing how she feels, he comes to the only thing he could think of to comfort her, to help her feel. He wraps his arms around her petite form, rests his head on top of hers, tilting so her bun isn't in his face and hugs her. He tightens his hold on her as she stays motionless and breathes out a sigh, accidentally frosting her hair a little. _Oops, my bad._ Seeing this, he lets out a small chuckle, the vibrations of his mirth rumbling into Astrid.

Clearing her throat a little, she shifts under him and he takes this as a sign to release her. She pulls back from him and looks up. "Hey, thanks..." she trails off, a small, grateful smile on her face.

"No problem, I've been there before." He then looks at her hair again and tries his very best to not laugh. Unfortunately for him, his poker face isn't exactly the greatest.

Astrid quirks an eyebrow at him, "What's so funny?"  
Coughing to seem nonchalant, he covers his mouth with his hand, muffling his words. "I uh, I kinda froze your hair..." He tries to hide his sneaking smile but his eyes betray him.

Astrid blinks once, twice, three more times after that, then she explodes. "YOU DID WHAT?!"

He steps back from her fury, "I-I just frosted it on accident! It'll melt after a while...just don't touch it for now, it might break off."

"Jack!" She makes a move to grab him, only to grasp onto air. She looks up to see him floating. "When I get my hands on you, I'm gonna take that stick of your's and shove it up your ass when I'm done with you!"

"Kinky. Didn't peg you for the dominant type."

Astrid's face immediately felt hot as she furiously blushed at his assumption.

"God dammit Frost, you're a dead man walking!"

"Quite literally." He smirks at her, lazily floating about.

Face still red from her blushing, she takes off after him. Startled, Jack fumbled a little before he regained his balance. She didn't tell me she could FLY!

He wags his finger at her, "Tsk, tsk, tsk. What did I say about your language. So unladylike, so naughty."

Zooming after him, she shouts out, "I'm gonna wipe that smirk off your smug face!"

The wind rushing in her ears, her bun coming lose, stray hair whipping about, her bangs splitting in unruly ways. Though this chase started in anger, with them winding between buildings and twisting between streets, she can't help the big, goofy smile from appearing on her face.

Their game of chase turned into a game of hide and seek, one hunting down the other, trading turns. Hiding around corners, in the market place, behind buses. As she's soaring down an open street, she closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and let's go.

Her momentum slows down but she still continues on forward. Her other senses heighten, she feels the wind, she hears the seagulls cawing, she can smell the familiar mixed musk of the city. Every time the sun breaks through the buildings and the clouds, she feels the warmth on her face, caressing her with its rays. She feels at peace.

Jack waits for her at the end of the street, ready to surprise attack her. He peeks from behind his hiding spot, and stares as she closes her eyes and relaxes. He can't help but stare. Her hair, messy yet it gives her a wild streak. The way the sunlight glinted off her golden glitter-like freckles and the ends of her clothing, also littered with sparkling multicolored dust. She lets out a laugh, a laugh so full of happiness, bliss, freedom.

Yes, freedom. Free from a caged life, from a time limit, from mortality. But then her face changes, her eyebrows furrow and he sees a small, almost unnoticeable tear streak down her face. He would've missed it if it were not for the sunlight reflecting off of it. Figuring that now would be a good time to cheer her up, he brings his right hand up to his face and blows into it, a snowball forming.

Jack raises his arm and aims for the girl. He releases it with a swing and a flick of his wrist, the snowball spinning towards its target.

SMACK

She falters in her flight from the offending snowball. The familiar icy cold sensation jolts Astrid out of her daze. The minuscule crystals melting down the side of her face, the rivulets dripping down her neck and under her collar. Goosebumps arise on her tanned olive skin. As she regains her balance, she sees out of her peripheral that a certain winter spirit was sitting on his staff, one leg up, one leg swinging. _Jack..._

She playfully glares at him as she moved over to him. "Hey, what was that for?" She yells at him, though she was glad he did it. She was starting to think about how she was given a new start but that she could probably never be with her family again.

"Come on."

"Huh?" She tilts her head in confusion.

"Let's go, I want to introduce you to some friends of mine." He waves her over as he prepares to take off.

Butterflies stir within her, "F-Friends? There's more? More like...like us?"

Jack snickers, "Well of course there is. You didn't we were the only ones did you?" Getting no reply from her, he continues. "I'm a Guardian, a protector of sorts. There's five of us: the Sandman, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and me. There are other spirits too but—you know what, I'll let the others explain it to you. I'm still kinda new to the job. So I bet if we leave now, we can make it there byyyy I don't know, eight o'clock."

"Eight?! How fast do you plan on going?"

"How fast can you go?"

"I don't know! I kind of just barely got the hang of this whole flying business!" She waves her hands about, mimicking the flapping of wings.

"Hmmm..." Jack holds his chin in contemplation, then he straightens up, his face alighting with an idea. "Take my hand." he offers his left hand to her.

She looks at him quizzically, "Uhhh what?"

Jack thrusts his hand more towards her, and when she doesn't take it, he grabs hers. "Just hold on and don't let go."

"What do you mean don't let go?"

He shouts out into the open air, "Wind, take us to the North Pole!"

"Wait, did you just say the North Po—OHHHHAHHHHHHHHH!" Her inquiry was interrupted as they took off, she lets out a high pitched scream as a powerful invisible force pushing them up and out of the city.

*:.｡. .｡.:*

Pitch Black is standing in the darkness over a child, his sinister smile sickly sweet. He looks affectionately at his "creation", a perverted, dark version of the Sandman's golden sand. He then looks over to the teenager next to the child in the bed, the older sister. She too has a Night Mare prancing about. Their faces are contorted in pain, shining with sweat and mingling with tears. "Ah, yes. Feel the pain and loss, suffer. With each whimper, each scream you make, I grow stronger. I feed off your pathetic fears."

The moonlight pouring in the room stretches out over the minors, the shining ever so slightly brighter. They relax slightly, both breathing a sigh of relief. Angered, the Boogeyman stalks over to the window.

"You took what should have been mine once again! Your pathetic Guardians think they defeated me for good. Ha! Fear can never be fully destroyed. Do not think I am done with you, with her. She is still within my grasp. When I finally have her, her power, her entire being, will be mine to control. You may think she has no quarrel with me, even after all you've done to protect her, but she will remember me. After all, you cannot hide from the dark."


	5. Ho Ho Oh No

**Author's note: HAPPY NEW YEAR! I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a while. I hope I can make it up to you guys with this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I own my OC and the plot, that is all.**

_I'm gonna frickin' pee myself!_

Astrid is squeezing Jack's hand with an iron grip, strangled sounds escaping her mouth as they are carried by Jack's wind to the North Pole.

After a while she scrambles her way to his back, clinging to him like a petrified koala. She can feel him laughing by the way his shoulders rise and fall in a staccato rhythm. All she can do is hang onto him for dear life, er afterlife and pray to all the omniscient deities she knew that they would land soon.

*:.｡. .｡.:*

Jack spies the home of North ahead of him and slows down to float onto one of the balconies. Once his bare feet touch the floor, he tries his best to look over his shoulder at the other spirit. Her prism-like hair blocks his view of her, though their position doesn't help it either. Her eyes are squeezed shut, her legs are wrapped around his torso, and her hands clutch onto the front of his frosted sweatshirt, shaking from barely contained adrenaline. She is petrified from their high speed flight, frozen like a statue.

"We have landed, you can let go now." Receiving no reply he continues on with a smirk, "Unless of course you don't want to, I know, I'm just so irresistible."

At that, Astrid's eyes pop open, and she untangles herself one limb at a time. Her warmth dissipates from him and though Jack wouldn't admit, he welcomed her heat, even if she was almost choking him. Once she stabilizes herself, she lightly punches Jack's shoulder. "You're modest too," she says with a wry grin. "So this is Santa's Workshop?"

"The one and only, come on, it'll be a little busy since its getting close to Christmas but I'm sure the big man has some free time."

"Oh my God, I'm gonna meet Santa! Man, I haven't said that since I was 10!"

"Be prepared to have your mind blown." Jack makes a grand show of opening the door, sweeping his arm out to present...a hallway. Astrid's shoulder slump at the sight. "This is just the guest bedroom area, if like any of us wanna stay over or something. Mine's the last one on the left. Now onward toward chaos." He marches off, leaving a befuddled girl in his midst.

Following his lead, they both come to the end of the hallway and they walk down yet another. Astrid can faintly hear a commotion going on at the end, she tries to peak over Jack's shoulders but only got colorful glimpses. Visions of peppy little elves and a cheery old man with red cheeks dance through her head, scenes from old Christmas movies replaying.

Once they get out into the open, a gasp escapes her pink lips. She sees beautifully crafted dolls, hand-sewn teddy bears, hand painted robots and trains. She hears a buzzing behind her and looks back. A toy plane with a jingling little red triangle came flying at her and she ducks right before it made her face a landing strip. It lands on the table next to her and she sees similar little triangles run up to it. Astrid didn't mean to stare but those triangles have feet, faces, and pointy ears! _Elves! Wow they're so tiny! And adorable!_ The elves chatter to each other and one spits out a cookie onto a platter of assorted cookies. _Uh scratch that. Note to self, steer clear of the cookies._

The teen hears mumbling and grumbling of some sort behind her and turns around. She sees that three big hairy creatures surrounded her, all seemed curious. _Giant bears!_ Her first reaction was too tense up and scream. They in turn, screamed as well, letting out guttural bellows. This scared Astrid even more and she screamed even higher.

All the while, Jack Frost is looking on chuckling to himself. He watches as Astrid freezes up once again and one of the yetis wave to her to try to break her out of her temporary paralysis. She stares in horror at his clawed hand and let's out a terrified squeak. Jack observes as her eyes roll upward and she falls limp to the ground, far too fast for any of them to register to catch her. They all look at her in surprise then snap to attention when they hear a faint shouting and jingling from underneath her. The frost spirit picks her up to find that an elf was trapped under her unconscious frame.

"Oops, should've warned her first."

*:.｡. .｡.:*

_Ugh, pain in my head, I feel pain._ Astrid groggily awakens to a pounding headache and mumbles to herself about water. She sits up in the soft bed and blindly reaches to her side for a glass of water. A glass is handed to her and the manages out a soft "thanks" before bringing the cup to her lips. As her mind catches up, she realizes that she's drinking peppermint hot chocolate and that a big blob of red and white was staring at her. As her vision clears, she sees a man with white hair and a long white beard with big, blue eyes framed by think eyebrows. He's wearing a red shirt with a sash around the top of his black pants and finally her mind registers, _SANTA?!_

She chokes on her beverage and goes into a fit of coughs, and she sees the man reach over her and pat her back. The force of his pats were so strong, she spilt some hot chocolate onto the red comforter. After regaining her normal pattern of breathing, she looks to the great man sheepishly.

"S-sorry about the bed...Santa Claus." She ducks her head a little and looks up from under her eyelashes and bangs, nervous to be in front of the real Santa Claus.

"Is okay little vone, it can get cleaned later. Now, you must rest." Now that surprised Astrid, he replied with a heavily accented Russian voice. Now that she is fully awake, she notices that Santa is not a frail, fat old man but in fact a strong, sturdy man with tattoos on both forearms! _Naughty and Nice, huh, who figured Santa to be a badass._

Her self musings were cut short as Jack opens the door, "Ah I see you've met the big man. Don't be too intimidated, underneath his tough exterior, he's a big teddy bear at heart."

"Jack, vhy didn't you tell me you bring guest, and new spirit at that."

"Eh, was gonna surprise you but she kinda changed the plans when she fainted."

A hearty laugh rumbles throughout the room, it's source from the downright jolly man. "Is a little too much for you, no? I shall give you full introduction: Velcome to zee North Pole! I am known as Santa Claus but you may call me North. Come, come, ve must get zee others." With that, North pulls Astrid out of the bed, the quick movement causing spots to blur her vision as her legs wobble. Oblivious to her discombobulated dance, he uses one huge hand to guide her to the doorway and through his workshop.

Jack follows them, making sure to keep an eye on the girl in case she decides to have a panic attack again. North leads them to Phil, his head honcho of the yetis, to be their tour guide so he can contact the others.

Once North moved out of the way, Astrid sees that the person he was talking to was one of those hairy things that gave her a heart attack earlier. She squeaks and scrambles behind the icy teen using his staff to as a defense line to keep the giant away from her.

Phil looks at her weird, then looks to Jack and North as if to ask "What's wrong with her?" It is then that North registers that Astrid fainted when she last saw a yeti. "Little vone, vhy are you afraid of Phil? He is like fuzzy teddy bear, but yeti."

"They tried to attack me earlier!"

"He is harmless. Most of the time." And with that he walks off leaving the two spirits and the yeti to their own devices.

"W-what does he mean 'most of the time'?"  
Jack wraps his arm around her to push her forward, "It's fine, he's a cool dude, he's just a really, really good bodyguard and bouncer. I could never get in here before I became a Guardian."

She tried to shirk away from the yeti as much as she could with the Guardian of fun pushing her. "So, the Guardians are like an exclusive club?"

The blue albino shrugged, never saying yes, never saying no. Phil tries to show he was harmless by showing his hands, furry palms up. Astrid's shoulders lower from their tense position, but she was still on the alert. The yeti guides them throughout the workshop, grumbling out certain stations in his own language and some broken English. The short colorful girl observes it all, a twinkle in her eyes. She has never seen anything quite like this before, its like something out of the old Christmas movies but multiplied by 10 and topped with magical awesomeness! Now she knew it sounded dumb with how she worded that but she just couldn't really find more appropriate words to describe it. _Hopefully I can be more articulate when it comes to describing things, especially places like this..._

Her thoughts were interrupted by Phil when he suddenly turned around to face the two, she thought she heard him say that the tour was done and then he shepherded them towards the giant globe. She assumes that they were to just wait but then she saw Jack fly off, "Hey, where're you going?"

Jack looks back, "I'll be right back, just gonna go check on something." With that, he left her to figure out what to do in his absence. She decides to plop her butt down in the middle of the room, watching the elves and yetis scatter about and work, crossing her legs underneath her. She twiddles her thumbs, closes her eyes and hums a cheery tune from an A cappella movie—Pitch Perfect. Gradually, her voice gets loud enough for her to start singing. She claps her hands and pat her knees while gently singing along to the music in her head.

"I got my ticket for the long way 'round, Two bottle 'a whiskey for the way, And I sure would like some sweet company, And I'm leaving tomorrow, wha-do-ya-say? When I'm gone, When I'm gone, You're gonna miss me when I'm gone. You're gonna miss me by my hair, You're gonna miss me everywhere, oh, You're gonna miss when I'm gone."

"You have vonderful voice!" A strong, Russian voice startled her out of her mini solo. She turns to look behind her, finding North, Jack, a golden, stout man, and a giant rabbit.

Caught by surprise at her sudden audience, her face heats up with an embarrassed blush. "Holy sh–shhhhhalom, hello, hi there!" _That was close, dammit, don't cuss in front of SANTA, you idiot!_ "Uh, h-how long were you guys...standing there?"

Jack had a look on his face that she couldn't identify but then it changed to one she knew oh so well. One corner of his mouth was quirked up, and Jack was smirking at her question, "Oh I don't know, a little after you started." At that, she blushed even more, her ears turning red.

Oh was he enjoying this, her reaction made it all the better. When they walked in on her singing, he was almost shocked. She sang in a slightly raspy yet melodic voice, it was soft, shushed amongst the noise of tinkering toys. She looked carefree, her voice light and airy. It was certainly something he wont forget, and something he'll constantly pester and tease her about. It's so amusing, he's never seen so many different shades of red on a person's face.

North's booming voice broke through the silence again, saving Astrid from the stares. "Vell almost everyone is here, Tooth will be here soon but vhile ve vait; Bunny, Sandy, this is Astrid, she is a new spirit. Jack found her this morning." He gestured to the giant herbivore and to the short man to move forward.

The Sandman floats over to the teen, a sleepy smile on his face full of kindness. A top hat made out of sand appears above his head and he tips it in a greeting. Holding out his hand to shake, the sands dissolves.

The six and a half foot tall rabbit comes up after Sandy retreats a little ways away, his stature and exotic appearance intimidating her. " 'Ello there, Sheila, the name's E. Aster Bunnymund, but you can call me Bunny." He stuck out his paw for a handshake and Astrid did the same but when they shook hands, her arm was limp. "You alright there Sheila?"

_Is...is he the Easter Bunny...woah..._ Astrid stares at him in a stupor. He is certainly not the image she was used to, he has some kind of leather knapsack on his back, he has tribal fur tattoos, he's over six feet tall, and he's an Aussie! Never in all her 17 years would she have thought the Easter Bunny be an Aussie.

"I think you just broke her, way to go Kangaroo." Jack says as he inspects the frozen girl.

"Rack off you bloody snowflake!"

"Aww is 'Roo grumpy?" Jack taunts him as Bunnymund chucks one of his boomerangs at him. "Gotta learn to keep your temper in check." He chides him as he dodges it.

Astrid breaks out of her bewilderment when she realizes that there was yelling, and she turned right as she saw a boomerang flying towards her head. On instinct, she put up her hands to shield her face and squeezed her eyes shut. Faintly, she registers a tingling in her hands and hears a whoosh.

A collective gasp between the Guardians was heard. "I'll be stuffed..." Bunnymund's green eyes widened and a smile tugged at the corners of his furry mouth.

Astrid peeks her left eye open and then her right, and sees what got everyone into such a surprise. Realizing that they are not staring at her but in fact in front of her, she peeks through her fingers, a similar gasp escaping her lips.

The boomerang was hovering before her hands, a shimmering prism-like glow surrounding it like a bubble. She drops her hands and steps back as the wooden projectile returns to normal and unceremoniously drops to the hard wood floor.

She stares at the offending once magical boomerang, one thought playing on a loop–_What the fuck just happened?!_


End file.
